The seeds for Monday's win, Mexico's first over the U.S. since 2010, were planted in the summer of 2022 when its soccer federation fired women's coach Monica Vergara after a disastrous performance in qualifying for the 2023 Women's World Cup and 2024 Olympics. A month later Pedro López, who helped build Spain's world championship roster while coaching four junior national teams there, was named Vergara's replacement.

Mexico hasn't lost since.

"The obvious thing is the change in leadership," forward Diana Ordóñez said "We're not afraid. We went into this game to win. What happened was no surprise. Mexican football has changed a lot."

Coming into the tournament López hinted that his team was ready for big things, calling Mexico a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Clearly that wolf was seen today," he said afterward.

For the U.S., meanwhile, the result set alarm bells ringing. Whether it's because the U.S. is declining or the rest of the world is advancing, the fact is the Americans, after reaching the finals of the five Olympic tournaments, have just one bronze medal to show for their two most recent trips. And last summer they exited the World Cup in the round of 16, their worst performance ever.

On Monday, the U.S. was dominated in the midfield and mounted little in the way of offense, testing Esthefanny Barreras — the first Mexican keeper to shut out the U.S. — just once. And the longer the U.S. chased the game, the more its poise turned to panic.

The first score came after a free kick, with Karla Nieto lobbing a ball forward for Ovalle. The Mexico attacker surprised U.S. defender Becky Sauerbrunn and took her attempted clearance off her chest, then raced into the penalty area to send a soft left-footed chip over goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher and under the crossbar.

Mayra Pelayo, who came on in the 81st minute, put the game out of reach in stoppage time, driving a right-footed shot from distance over Naeher into the upper right corner of the goal.

The victory was something of an inside job, though. Eleven of the 15 players Mexico used were either born in the U.S. or played there, including Ordóñez, who was born in Riverside; Pelayo, a Florida native; and Barreras, who is from Phoenix.

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